I pay all my income taxes since I have no choice, but I do whatever I can do to help small businesses avoid paying theirs, should they choose to do so. In fact, I will often say "please don't pay your federal taxes" to small business owners as I hand over cash for my purchase. Typically, the response I get is a supporting chuckle, and a thank you. This is not a partisan issue for me - it has little to do with who is spending my tax money, and everything to do with who is spending my tax money. Why? Because the assholes in Congress are going to waste it. And if the assholes in Congress don't waste it, then the assholes in the White House are going to waste it. Cut their supply off at the source. Don't waste your time elsewhere, because trying to cut govt. spending is about as productive as tits on a bull. How do I do this? 1) I try to shop at small businesses and pay in cash. It's easier for small businesses to fly under the govt. radar than it is for large national chains. 2) Anything that I can't get at a small, local business, I try to buy online through ebay or a similar place that allows smaller scale buyers and sellers to meet. What are the unexpected benefits? 1) You help people who are like you -- entreprenurial. 2) You keep money inside your own community, which in turn helps raise your property values and makes your community a nicer place for you to live. 3) You get better service. The best example I can give from my own personal life is Home Depot versus my local hardware store. I used to shop at home depot for just about anything I needed around the house, then I realized that my average trip to home depot was about TWO HOURS. Twenty minutes each way, ten minutes in line, and the rest of the time was typically spent trying to find some clueless asshole working there who didn't give a shit about me, making $8.50/hr, to give me some help with what I needed. At my local hardware store, which charges me about 25% more per item than home depot, my trip was a hell of alot faster -- I walk into the store, a guy I know comes up to me and asks me what I need help with right away. If I need to return something, I can return it quickly, no questions asked, even if I had a plumbing fitting that I tried but didn't work. Try that at home depot. Plus I get valuable advice on jobs I'm doing around the house. At home depot, all they wanted to do was sell me a book. I was saving 25% at home depot, but losing even more from lost wages and lost relaxation time. I learned the hard way that I wasn't saving anything by shopping at home depot. 4) You feel good about what you've done. The next time you see a new home depot bulldozing the fields that you used to play in as a kid, you can say to yourself, "thank god they're not getting my money to fuck up my neighborhood." 5) You save money over the long run. Feel free to forward this post as an email to your friends, and make the world a better place.
That is the most absurd post Iâve read on the Economics board. It reminds me of chain letters: âLetâs all buy gas at Shell, but not at Mobil, this way we put greedy bustards at Mobil out of business and the oil prices will go downâ At least now I know where the ridiculous ideas originate, DVB